Oral Hygiene

Mae Volen Senior Center offers community care for the elderly through its CCE Program. This service assists impaired elderly with bathing, dressing, ambulation, bed making, hair care, oral hygiene and meal preparation. Another service is homemaking, a light housekeeping program, enabling the client to live sanitarily and comfortably at home. This is not a maid service. Grocery shopping also is provided under homemaking services. If you are an impaired elderly person, or the caregiver, and need help in the home, contact the CCE Intake Case Manager at 395-8920.

Cavities are practically a given today and no age or ethnic group seems to be immune. Cavities, or tooth decay, start when plaque forms on the teeth. Plaque is the sticky substance that forms on teeth and combines with the sugars and/or starches in the foods we eat. This combination produces acids that attack tooth enamel. If we don't develop a sensible daily dental health plan, the result can be cavities. Left too long, you can face tooth loss, root canal surgery and other problems.

Boca Raton For the second time, the Hearts of the Children's Museum is bringing its annual lunch fashion show, Arts and Fashion in Bloom, to the Boca Pointe Country Club. The show, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, will be held at the club, 7144 Boca Pointe Drive, as part of Boca Festival Days. There will be raffles, appraised paintings and antique jewelry for purchase. Tickets are $40 per person. For information, call Yol Galik at 561-395-9573. Group to offer hospice training Hospice and HomeCare By The Sea presents a six-session educational training program Sept.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office raided Citi Pawn in Boca Raton on Wednesday on the suspicion that a pawn shop employee was dealing in stolen property. More than $3 million worth of oral hygiene products were stolen from stores by two suspects during the past two years and were sold on eBay, Sheriff's Office Sgt. Keith Conley said. Deputies raided the pawn shop, in the 900 block of North Dixie Highway, about 2 p.m. and confiscated boxes of electric toothbrushes, replacement toothbrush heads, teeth whitening strips and other expensive items.

Among the newest entries into the lucrative oral health-care market are toothbrushes with special features designed to improve consumer brushing habits. An "indicator" brush, which has two rows of color bristles that change color to signal when to replace your toothbrush, has been invented by Oral B, the 40-year-old company that manufactures toothbrushes most recommended by dentists in this country. The bristles contain dye which wears away during brushing after about three months. The ADA recommends replacing a toothbrush every three months, but Americans only replace their brushes 1.8 times a year, according to a survey by Colgate-Palmolive.

A pet products firm says its mouthwash is the answer for dog owners repelled by the foul breath of man`s best friend. Pet Medical and Health Products Inc. of Princeton, N.J., plans to introduce its mouthwash for dogs and cats at an industry trade show Saturday in Denver, said company president Bill Papciak. The mouth-cleaning solution, sprayed in mist form from a pump bottle, "is not a gimmick product," Papciak said. Papciak left the human medical and health products industry several years ago to found Pet Medical and begin developing home health-care products for animals.

Wellington neighbors Suzanne Pignato and Kimberly Sundook like their dogs to get taken care of, look sharp and get pampered, and that is why they use Animal Palace Mobile Pet Grooming service on a monthly basis. They also like the convenience of the pet groomer coming to them. Both customers also had much to say about the customer service they receive from owner Joyce Gropper. They said they receive e-mails and follow up phone calls about the service they received. "I think in this day and age [customer service]

In the 18 years he has been visiting nursing homes, seeing patients in his private practice and, more recently, driving his mobile dental clinic through Appalachian hills and hollows, Dr. Edwin E. Smith has seen the extremes of neglect. He has seen the shame of a 14-year-old girl who would not lift her head because she had lost most of her teeth from malnutrition; he has seen the do-it-yourself pride of an elderly mountain man who, unable to afford a dentist, pulled his own infected teeth with a pair of pliers and a swig of peroxide.

JOE DONZELLI and SOURCE: The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, September 17, 1995

HEALTH NOTES Gingivitis This is an inflammation of the gingiva (gums) due to an infection. Gingivitis is a reversible stage of gum disease if treated early. Gingivitis usually is caused by a buildup of plaque (a sticky deposit of bacteria, mucus, food particles and other irritants) around the base of the teeth. The bacteria in the plaque irritates the gums, causing them to become tender, swollen and infected. Other possible causes of gingivitis are overvigorous brushing and careless flossing.

First, it was our grimy hands that needed more attention. So health experts suggested singing a 20-second ditty like Happy Birthday to get people to lather up for longer periods. Now it's the teeth that need more quality time. Most dentists say the important issue is not whether you use a cheap manual toothbrush or an expensive one that rotates, oscillates and vibrates. It's how long -- and how thoroughly -- you massage your pearly whites. For most people, the teeth-cleaning ritual that dates to ancient Babylonia takes about one minute 30 seconds on the top teeth and 30 seconds on the bottom.

Exhaustion, depression, accomplishment, enrichment, joy and sadness were all the emotions pulsing through Amy Van Den Berg when she returned from her trip to Mexico. In fact, Van Den Berg said she was "broken emotionally" when she got home Aug. 1 after a week of missionary work in Ensenada on the Pacific Coast. "There is only so much you can accomplish," she said. For the third year, the Journey Church of Boynton Beach , which meets at Park Vista Community High School, coordinated a mission trip to the small villages of Ensenada and spent the week building homes, churches and even teaching indigent children to brush their teeth for the first time.

Wellington neighbors Suzanne Pignato and Kimberly Sundook like their dogs to get taken care of, look sharp and get pampered, and that is why they use Animal Palace Mobile Pet Grooming service on a monthly basis. They also like the convenience of the pet groomer coming to them. Both customers also had much to say about the customer service they receive from owner Joyce Gropper. They said they receive e-mails and follow up phone calls about the service they received. "I think in this day and age [customer service]

In the 18 years he has been visiting nursing homes, seeing patients in his private practice and, more recently, driving his mobile dental clinic through Appalachian hills and hollows, Dr. Edwin E. Smith has seen the extremes of neglect. He has seen the shame of a 14-year-old girl who would not lift her head because she had lost most of her teeth from malnutrition; he has seen the do-it-yourself pride of an elderly mountain man who, unable to afford a dentist, pulled his own infected teeth with a pair of pliers and a swig of peroxide.

First, it was our grimy hands that needed more attention. So health experts suggested singing a 20-second ditty like Happy Birthday to get people to lather up for longer periods. Now it's the teeth that need more quality time. Most dentists say the important issue is not whether you use a cheap manual toothbrush or an expensive one that rotates, oscillates and vibrates. It's how long -- and how thoroughly -- you massage your pearly whites. For most people, the teeth-cleaning ritual that dates to ancient Babylonia takes about one minute 30 seconds on the top teeth and 30 seconds on the bottom.

Boca Raton For the second time, the Hearts of the Children's Museum is bringing its annual lunch fashion show, Arts and Fashion in Bloom, to the Boca Pointe Country Club. The show, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, will be held at the club, 7144 Boca Pointe Drive, as part of Boca Festival Days. There will be raffles, appraised paintings and antique jewelry for purchase. Tickets are $40 per person. For information, call Yol Galik at 561-395-9573. Group to offer hospice training Hospice and HomeCare By The Sea presents a six-session educational training program Sept.

Mae Volen Senior Center offers community care for the elderly through its CCE Program. This service assists impaired elderly with bathing, dressing, ambulation, bed making, hair care, oral hygiene and meal preparation. Another service is homemaking, a light housekeeping program, enabling the client to live sanitarily and comfortably at home. This is not a maid service. Grocery shopping also is provided under homemaking services. If you are an impaired elderly person, or the caregiver, and need help in the home, contact the CCE Intake Case Manager at 395-8920.

Exhaustion, depression, accomplishment, enrichment, joy and sadness were all the emotions pulsing through Amy Van Den Berg when she returned from her trip to Mexico. In fact, Van Den Berg said she was "broken emotionally" when she got home Aug. 1 after a week of missionary work in Ensenada on the Pacific Coast. "There is only so much you can accomplish," she said. For the third year, the Journey Church of Boynton Beach , which meets at Park Vista Community High School, coordinated a mission trip to the small villages of Ensenada and spent the week building homes, churches and even teaching indigent children to brush their teeth for the first time.

JOE DONZELLI and SOURCE: The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, September 17, 1995

HEALTH NOTES Gingivitis This is an inflammation of the gingiva (gums) due to an infection. Gingivitis is a reversible stage of gum disease if treated early. Gingivitis usually is caused by a buildup of plaque (a sticky deposit of bacteria, mucus, food particles and other irritants) around the base of the teeth. The bacteria in the plaque irritates the gums, causing them to become tender, swollen and infected. Other possible causes of gingivitis are overvigorous brushing and careless flossing.